https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGabaLZ8T-I BBC interview with Johnny Nelson. Tim talks about the good and bad times he had in the sport. Terrific stuff. I enjoyed it a lot.
Tim is one of my favourite boxers. Terrific overall fighter with the best overhand right I've seen in the heavyweight division. Avoided like the plague, but partly ruined his career himself by showing up out of shape and picking up some unnecessary L's. Glad to see he's healthy. Doesn't seem punchy at all. Truly a head made of granite.
Yeah having skill and physical attributes is half the battle. A lot of these guys where were avoided lose interest and that's a big part of why they were inconsistent. More credence to the theory that head trauma has different effects on different people... For some one rough night is enough to scramble their brains for good, for others 2-3 decades of professional prizefighting and they sound/act fine!
It's a shame though. The 80s had some real talent in the heavies. Guys like Tucker, Dokes, Spoon, Tubbs, Thomas. Some were frozen out by Don King, some were avoided, some had no motivation and lead the life of rockstars...but on their best night, an excellent bunch of fighters. Truly the lost era.
Yeah I agree, a lot of wasted potential in that batch, more than just the guys you named as well! That would carry on to the 90s as well... With Golota, Morrison, Ibeabuchi and even Bowe never reaching their full potential for the above reasons among other things, but yeah it was definitely far worse in the 80s.
I always thought Witherspoon was the fighter who'd really trouble prime Tyson because he was durable, hit hard and had boxing smarts. It was no surprise or councidence that King froze him out of the HW scene at the same time that Tyson was making King a fortune.
:good Thanks for that, great interview. I always liked Witherspoon. Very good boxer and he fought just about everyone. If he'd only been handled properly I'm sure he could have among the best.
